Update on the 2010 PRCA Season with Tana Poppino

After a rough 2009 season plagued by injuries, The Barrel Racing Blog's friend Tana Poppino is back on the rodeo road with two healthy horses . She's making a run for her third NFR qualification, and so far, she's starting out hot.

As she and her husband drove to a college rodeo to watch her son compete this weekend, Poppino told The Barrel Racing Blog that she won the Billings, Mont., PRCA NILE Rodeo aboard her bay, Amigo.

"Amigo is getting back go his pre-injury runs," Poppino said of the bay that took her to two NFRs.

She also hit the Prairie Circuit Finals , where she won round 1, was third in round two but knocked in round three to put her out of the average.

With Amigo, Poppino's knocked her second barrel twice this year, something that she said is very out of the ordinary.

"I'm going to have to learn from my mistakes," Poppino said. "I'm hitting my second going into it. When I'm sitting really good (to win an average) is when I seem to hit the second."

She's also been running Goose, her grey gelding, at jackpots to keep him sharp. He has to run at the WPRA World Finals in Tulsa, Okla., this weekend while Amigo takes a break before hitting the road hard in January.

"This is really about the only time of the year you can give them a good rest," Poppino said. "Hopefully they're going to be used a lot this coming year."

Keeping her horses healthy is key for Poppino. She regularly uses products from Total Health Enhancement, one of her sponsors. And by the way - our friends at On The Rodeo Road are giving away a FREE bag of the Daily Edge to one of their readers -  just comment on their blog with why you love your horse, and later this week they'll pick a winner!

Stick with The Barrel Racing Blog all year as we follow Tana Poppino throughout her run for the NFR this year!

One of Barrel Racing's Greats

This weekend, I got to watch my all-time favorite horse run - Joe B Jammin. He's probably getting older, as I remember running with him and his owner Sue Bologna eight years ago, and even then Jammer had won his fair share of events. This weekend Jammer ended up in the second division, but there's not enough that can be said about what Jammer has done for the sport of barrel racing. 

As for me, I can say that Jammer has been the horse that I've tried to emulate in every colt I've ever run. He's got no wasted motion at all in his turns - they're perfect. 

I will remember forever the run I had at Hartbow - now Simmon's Equine Center - that brought me within two tenths of Jammer. I was 13, and that was the first time I'd ever had a run like that (and probably the last time). I think a lot of kids like me remember their times depending on how close they came to Jammer. I've heard people describe the quality of their runs as such for years - "I was only three tenths off of Jammer..." or "Well, I ended up in the 2D but it was Jammer who won it, so that's not bad at all!" 

Talk about staying power. Jammer won three Congress titles, carried Martha Josey to countless rodeo championships and has set arena records from PA to Texas. And he's still going. 

I googled Joe B Jammin, and came up with one Youtube video of the horse at a rodeo in Denver, with Jeana Finlinson aboard. I didn't remember her ever having him, but she must have. Here's the run: